The U.S. Army and Air Force public relations offices have responded to a Freedom of Information Act request
by releasing huge lists of movies and television shows that they have
assessed and, at least in many cases, sought to influence. Here's the
Army's PDF. Here's the Air Force's PDF.

The shows and films, foreign and U.S. made, aimed at foreign and U.S.
audiences, including documentaries and dramas and talk shows and
"reality" TV, cross every genre from those obviously related to war to
those with little discernable connection to it.

Films show up in theaters without any notice that they have been
influenced by the Army or Air Force or other branch of the military. And
they carry ratings like G, PG, PG-13, or R. But the Army's
until-now-secret assessments of films also give them ratings. Every
rating is positive and cryptic. They include:

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Supports Building Resiliency,

Supports Restoring Balance,

Supports Maintaining our Combat Edge,

Supports Adapting Our Institutions,

Supports Modernizing Our Force.

Some films have multiple ratings. Truth in advertising, I think,
would include these ratings on previews and advertisements for films.
I'd like to know what the Army thinks of a film. It would make my
decision to avoid it much easier. Go ahead and scroll through the Army
document linked above, and chances are you'll find out what a movie
you're currently interested in or recently saw is rated by the folks who
brought you Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, ISIS,
Al Qaeda, and top ratings worldwide for the U.S. as the nation
considered the greatest threat to peace on earth (Gallup, December
2013).

Here's a comment from Zaid Jilani at Salon:
"The sheer scale of the Army and the Air Force's involvement in TV
shows, particularly reality TV shows, is the most remarkable thing about
these files. 'American Idol,' 'The X-Factor,' 'Masterchef,' 'Cupcake
Wars,' numerous Oprah Winfrey shows, 'Ice Road Truckers,' 'Battlefield
Priests,' 'America's Got Talent,' 'Hawaii Five-O,' lots of BBC, History
Channel and National Geographic documentaries, 'War Dogs,' 'Big
Kitchens' -- the list is almost endless. Alongside these shows are
blockbuster movies like Godzilla, Transformers, Aloha and Superman: Man of Steel."

That list is a sampling, nothing more. The full list goes on and on
and on. It includes many films about wars or U.S. base construction.
There's an Extreme Makeover Home Edition at Fort Hood. There's The Price Is Right's Military Appreciation Episode. There's
a C-Span show called "The Price of Peace" -- C-Span is of course often
thought of as a neutral fly on the wall. There are, as mentioned above,
lots of BBC documentaries -- the BBC is of course often thought of as British.

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The documents linked above consist mostly of assessments with
relatively little explicit discussion of military influence. But further
research has produced that. The Mirrorreports
on the censoring of an Iron Man movie because the military is -- not
kidding -- actually trying to create Iron Man type suits of
armor/weaponry: "Directors are being forced to re-write scripts by the
United States Department of Defense if the content is deemed
inappropriate -- and the big screen hits affected include Iron Man, Terminator Salvation, Transformers, King Kong and Superman: Man of Steel. . . . Last year, President Barack Obama
appeared to be joking when he said the U.S. military was working on its
own Iron Man suit for troops. But the first prototypes of a
super-strong exoskeleton being developed for chiefs by universities and
technology players were delivered last June."

Shouldn't viewers of fantasy cartoonish movies know that the Army has
been involved and what it rates those films in terms of their
recruitment value?

"To keep Pentagon chiefs happy," reports the Mirror, "some
Hollywood producers have also turned villains into heroes, cut central
characters, changed politically sensitive settings -- or added military
rescue scenes to movies. Having altered scripts to accommodate Pentagon
requests, many have in exchange gained inexpensive access to military
locations, vehicles and gear they need to make their films."

Guess who pays for that?

In fact many of the listings in the documents above originated as requests from film makers to the military. Here's an example:

"Comedy Central -- OCPA-LA received a request from Comedy
Central to have Jeff Ross, the Roastmaster General, spend 3 to 4 days on
an Army post where he will embed himself amongst the Soldiers. This
project will be a hybrid of a documentary and a stand up special/comedy
roast. Ross, who has gone on several USO tours, wants to participate in
various tactical drills and exercises, as well as interview soldiers and
officers of all different ranks to get a fuller understanding of what a
life in the military is really like, and how extraordinary those who
choose to serve truly are. Then on his last day at the base, armed with
the personal knowledge he has acquired, Jeff will put on a roast/standup
comedy concert for all the people on the base that he has gotten to
know during his tenure there. We are working with OCPA to see if this is
something that can be supported and, if so, to find the best fit."

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These questions as to whether something can be supported are
frequent, but in skimming the documents I notice no negative ratings
like

Supports Resistance to Mass-Murder

Supports Peace, Diplomacy, or Intelligent Foreign Relations

Supports Disarmament and Wise Use of Peace Dividend

Apparently all news is good news. Even cancellations get good ratings:

"'BAMA BELLES' REALITY TV SHOW (U), The Bama Belles, a
reality show based out of Dothan, AL is being cancelled. According to
cast member and producer Amie Pollard, TLC will not continue with a
second season of "Bama Belles" and is still deciding whether to air the
third episode. One of the actors on the show was SGT 80th Training
Command (USAR). Assessment: Cancellation of the show is in the best
interest of the US Army. Supports Building Resiliency."

Propaganda aimed at foreign audiences is included right alongside
that aimed at potential recruits and voters in the United States:

David Swanson is the author of "When the World Outlawed War," "War Is A Lie" and "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union." He blogs at http://davidswanson.org and http://warisacrime.org and works for the online (more...)